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July 29, 2007

Phew. That was a lot of stitches. Just over 42 000, to be more exact. I cast it off, and the hardest thing to do to it was this:

Then I pinned. And I pinned. And now I feel like a graduate from lace kindergarten, finally having completed my first shawl. Click for bigger.

It's huge and yummy and looks like geraniums. The Flower Basket pattern is brilliant in its simplicity and effect. Huge thumbs-up, especially for the lace virgin neophyte.

Yesterday was a great family event, the annual Sheep and Wool Day at the Lismore Sheep Farm in River John. The men went for the grilled lamb burgers, the kids went to explore the barns, have their faces painted and eat ice cream.

The ladies? My mom and I were all about the knitters. Specifically Lucy Neatby. She gave a very informative talk on sock knitting, to very enthusiastic reception.

Lucy is as pleasant and wonderful as I remember her from my days with the Halifax knitting guild. She is just as creative with her demonstration methods, using i-cords as yarn and the sock below to explain the various aspects of sock construction.

She is also very obliging when it comes to her young fans.

(Amy said her favourite part of the day was "Seeing Lucy and her pretty hair.")

We showed the men that, perhaps, size does matter.

And if the spinning bug doesn't get me, it may well inflict the next generation.

July 27, 2007

Between work, kids and our various activities, I am terribly behind on my blogging. So here goes, just an update on projects, finished and otherwise, since my last post.

Plunge Pair #31, Embossed Leaves in Fleece Artist Merino. Done.

Pair #32, "Mystery" (until pattern bugs are worked out for publication) socks, claimed by a coworker while still on the needles. Done.

Pair #33, Waving Lace in Sisu. Love the pattern, still hate the yarn. Just past the heel flap on sock #1.

Little raglan t-shirt in CTH Supersock for baby still TBD. Started and finished in the last week. Isn't she sweet?

My Flower Basket Shawl is up to 335 stitches to the row. 3 more blocks of 10 rows and it's on to the edging. I'm fighting the urge to finish it off prematurely, just for the thrill of the blocking, but I'm persevering and trying to use up as much of the yarn as possible. Photos will come when it's less of a shapeless blob.

Laurel's backpack. Probably about 2/3 done, with the body done and the straps started.

Amy's Ballet slippers, cast on yesterday and fresh out of the washer tonight.

(I added long i-cords instead of short, Mary Jane-style straps, so she can lace them up her leg like a ballerina.)

Thermal has been ignored for a time. I've done 3 skeins worth and am hoping to have it done for a work trip in early September. The designer works at Lettuce Knit, and I'd love to meet her while wearing one of her creations! (She's probably terribly bored by stalker-fan-customer types like myself, but that won't stop me.)

July 23, 2007

Sometimes a day of the grumpies can turn around. When yarn is involved, it's that much sweeter.

Friday night, I attempted to take Amy for her promised evening out, the early show of Hairspray. (This child loves music, dancing, show tunes and anything theatrical. It's quite funny, actually.) As we pulled up to the busy theatre, I had a fleeting thought that there may be trouble, but I dismissed it as Potter-mania.

Sold out. Insert expletive of choice here.

The poor thing cried, as she could see a life-sized cutout of Tracy Turnblad just inside the doors. "But Mommy, I reeeeeeally want to see Tracy dance! It's my dream!" (She's seen the trailer many, many times, if you're wondering where those very dramatic words may have come from.)

Having finally convinced her that Hairspray was "closed", we ventured to Ratatouille, which was just OK. For the disruption a late night brings, it wasn't really worth it.

Saturday morning, both kids were in rare form, their grumpitude barely exceeding my own. Enter Gran, aka, the hero of the day.

"Come on over. You can spend the night, and Hairspray's playing at the neighbourhood theatre. Dad's treat."

Never in my thirty-five years have I felt more rescued by my mother. We hopped in the car (did I mention it's just shy of a three-hour drive?) and got there in plenty of time for the early show. Thankfully, it was not busy at all. I say this not because of ticket availability issues, but because the Little Miss insisted on dancing in the aisle, for at least half of the movie!

Laurel stayed home with Granddad, where the two of them snuggled and kissed for two solid hours.

In the morning, I woke up with the realization that I wasn't in a rush to get home, as T was working until 6pm.

"Hey Mar, how long does it take to get to Black's Harbour?"

Those were the fateful words that led me on my first trip to the flagship location of Cricket Cove. Wonderful, delicious Cricket Cove.

It's the kind of store it would take hours to truly see everything. Yarn popping out of every corner. Exotics, locals, rare finds. Huge quantities of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden. Elsbeth Lavold, Suss, Jo Sharp, Rowan, Knitwits kits, Artyarns...

I finally got my hands on some Tofutsies, and am looking forward to finding out what the fuss is about. At first blush, the colours alone seem squee-worthy.

And in the sock yarn corner (busting with Trekking, Opal, Regia and more), I fed my sick addiction for Opal solids.

(Something about a pure, true pink just makes the girl in me happy.) I think this will be for knee socks for Amy, or maybe some colourwork socks from More SKS.

Some odd bits of Fleece Artist found me, for a project not yet bloggable.

Just when I thought I'd made my way out of the yarn zone (and had cashed out at just $60), there was another room. And another. In the room that serves as the local tourism office, there was a table piled ridiculously high with Handmaiden. Heaps of it. And I found this:

Sea Silk, in the most beautiful almost-solid periwinkle colour. I also bought a bag of dulse, which I haven't had in ages. Do you think hub would believe that the second credit card transaction from Cricket Cove was a $42 bag of dulse?

Lobster lunch and a pleasant drive back to reality capped off what had started as a pretty glum weekend.

Much more in the way of project updates to follow, but I'm getting wordy and it's time to go play outside!

July 12, 2007

After a week-long absence, I did wonder if anyone was speculating as to my location. The Digby lockup? Rehab? Home with the kids?

Well, the weekend was spectacular, the photos are password protected and, days after returning, I'm still tired. Suffice it to say, the Class of 1996 has changed very little. More importantly, my closest classmates, the reason I attended the reunion in the first place, were all there and in full party mode.

My drinking buddy Dave marvelled that I picked up my knitting at 2am while thoroughly drunk, but I don't believe there's any photographic proof of that. (When it's as natural as breathing, you can pick it up without thinking. Believe me, I was well beyond the thinking phase of the evening.

I'm still cheating on my socks. Lace is actually going well. The Flower Basket Shawl has about 10 repeats of the basket pattern, and I've had relatively few moments of cursing and tinking. It photographs poorly at this stage - just imagine a shapeless blob in gorgeous red semisolid.

Plunge pair 29 is done, just a Fleece Artist mill end and a nice, plain sock. This working from both ends of a skein racket is proving addictive. I just love the lack of leftovers, and my socks are much longer this way!

Pair 30 is going, but slowly. I said it before, but I will not be sucked into Splitsu Sisu again. The attraction is obvious: great colour selection and unbeatable price. But the splitting! I have to pay far more attention to it than I normally would, and have had to rip back several times to correct splits. Splitsu, you suck. As for the pattern, it's Embossed Leaves. It's a great pattern and works up very quickly. I love that it's patterned on every row. It takes a bit of attention, which is fun for me. Does anyone else, though, think that the stitch pattern would look better if turned upside town or worked toe-up?

(I think I'd prefer the leaves creeping up my leg, and I may just rip out and do that.)

Am now contemplating a sweater for a new baby. I have a bit more of the endless Cherry Tree Hill Supersock mill end from last summer, and I think it may be just the ticket for baby Eric. Suggestions, anyone?

And I just took an objective look at the photo above, and it's going to be frogged in 3...2...1...

July 05, 2007

As I prepare for a debaucherous weekend with old friends, I'm trying, with little success, to get some projects of the needles before new ones can throw me off track.

I am so loving the Solstice Slip socks that I find myself delaying their completion, so I can work with the yarn just a little bit longer. I'm also trying a new tactic to maximize my yarn usage.

I've tried to weigh and guess, and I always chicken out and end up with quite a bit of remaining yarn. Not this time.

They are now the same length and are taking turns receiving more pattern repeats, one at a time. The centre-pull skein has so far been pretty problem free, but I'll have to me careful to keep my ends from twisting terribly as I get closer to the end. I hope to post a photo of a ridiculously short yarn end upon their completion.

After deciding to take the month of July and rest from socks, I dug back in on the latest BMFA club kit. I am officially re-energized in my love for socks.

It has turned out to be all about the needle size for me.

I have done 90+ per cent of my socks on 2.5 mm needles, and have always been pleased with the results. I have some smaller needles stashed away for when I feel like playing with gauge. I had somehow convinced myself that it took more skill, more discipline and more knitting chops to work with the smaller needles.

Perhaps that's the case, but I have some serious doubts about that.

I have since concluded that my 2.5 mm needles make me happy. The end result is not inferior. The fabric is not droopy, lumpy or otherwise unpleasant. The socks wear well, keep their shape and do their job. My tension produces a fabric at 2.5 mm that isn't just good enough, it's good.

Last week, I hauled out my 2mm needle and some Louet Gems fingering weight to tackle the Mock Wave Cable Socks in the Interweave Favorite Socks book. Great pattern, great yarn. And in that gauge, it looked awful. The "made" stitches pulled the adjacent purl stitches out of whack. More importantly, it wasn't fun. I will re-work the pattern in a larger needle size down the road.

Next instance of this sock mess was with my BMFA kit. The pattern called for a 2.25 mm needle, which I had stashed away for just such occasion. Not fun, not pretty and again with the stitches getting all pulled this way and that. I re-cast on my 2.5 mm needle and am much happier. Can't imagine this is a Club spoiler, so here are my progress photos:

Yes, that is a short row heel, over my size 11 foot, and yes, it fits. Very well. (About as well as JC Briar will fit in my pocket, if she doesn't stop the sock brilliance that is the tech editing of the BMFA club patterns.) The designer combined a set of increases, forming a mini-gusset, with a short row heel. The combination of the increased total stitch count leading up to the heel and the resultant increase in the heel's row count make for a great fit. I will no longer shy away from the short-row heel for my own canoes feet.

Here's a closer peek at the heel region:

Now I think I'll stop pontificating over my socks and go make some more!